The theme of this year’s Book Festival is “We Need New Stories”. And nobody knows that any better than someone like Cathy Newman who co-anchors Channel 4 News.
It was a fierce night in Charlotte Square with thunder and lightning which endangered even the electricity generators, but Nick Barley explained we were probably safer there in the tent than outside. So fifteen minutes late (almost unheard of at the Book Festival) the event proceeded.
The Edinburgh International Book Festival promises this of the Telling Her Story series : “Why does the gender pay gap still stand at over 18% in the UK? Fortunately, many brilliant women are finally being heard in the long struggle for equality, and we are proud to present a series of events in which they take the stage. From Carrie Gracie’s account of her battle for equal pay within the BBC to Mariella Frostrup’s anthology of female travel writers, and Sara Sheridan’s female rewriting of Scotland’s history to a new generation of novelists, this exuberant strand celebrates bold, defiant, revolutionary women, and gives a perspective of the world from the female point of view.”
Although I know more about the subject of the book, I would have liked to hear more about Newman herself, as someone who is in a position to make a difference, to tell the stories about both men and women we need to help us on our way towards equality, whether that is of opportunity or pay. Cathy Newman said that she was in danger of going off subject several times, perhaps coaxing Rosemary Goring to keep her on the straight and narrow, but that didn’t happen.
In my view the conversation in The New York Times Theatre last night did not match Goring’s own promise that ‘reading this book will make you very angry’. (First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has described it as a ‘treasure trove of inspiration’.) We heard a little snippet from the book (which I have to confess that I have not yet read) and it sounds as though it is a good read and it may go some way to introducing us to important women in the past. Newman said she thinks there is a lack of such works by women as to date most history books are written by men.
It took seven years to write the work which tells the story of those women who’ve shaped modern Britain, with the likes of Emmeline Pankhurst sharing pages with heroes like Beatrice Shilling, whose engineering prowess helped win the Battle of Britain. Newman confessed that probably nobody had heard of Shilling before hearing about her in these pages, yet Shilling was an incredible eccentric who was a motorbike obsessive. To date there has only been a pub in Hampshire named after her which is not appropriate for a woman who fixed the problem with the planes and changed the course of history in the Battle of Britain.
Newman is articulate, challenging and interesting (she read English at LMH Oxford after all) but I do feel she was let down by the quality of questions asked of her. Why would Rosemary Goring who was conducting the conversation think it was okay to ask about Jon Snow’s ties and Cathy’s own clothes? This is a woman who said her own role model was Kate Adie, and Adie spent most of her reporting career with a toothbrush in the top pocket of her flak jacket.
Newman confessed that she was not a historian and that her early education concentrated on Anglo-Saxon times which are outside the range of Bloody Brilliant Women: The Pioneers, Revolutionaries and Geniuses Your History Teacher Forgot to Mention. The book has a narrative from the late 19th century to 2017, and I can see a sequel coming.
I would also have liked Newman to expand on her encounter on live TV with clinical psychologist and professor Jordan Peterson, whose views on gender have in the past attracted great controversy. The interview resulted in death threats for Newman which she skated over during the interview. She did tell us about her work in schools where she talks to girls and boys, but admits that she wonders about the lack of positive role models for boys, (although that again could have been expanded upon).
At the end of the hour Newman ended by saying that she had not touched on any of the more pressing problems around the world, things like abortion rights in Northern Ireland on our own doorstep, and rounded off only too appropriately here in Edinburgh with a quote from our own Dame Muriel Spark. This is the famous biographical paragraph she submitted to her publisher Macmillan : “Born in ice cave of southern Tyrol, year 609BC of centaur stock, mother descended Venus. Muriel Spark rose from the waves as is well known. Demands fabulous fees.” Another bloody, brilliant woman, as is Newman herself who has grown on us all with her ever-elevating role on the news – and yes, I do think that many in the audience watch Channel 4 News.
Later in this series, important women’s voices include former BBC China Editor Carrie Gracie, who launches her new book Equal, Caroline Criado-Perez and Mary Portas who all call for radical change will follow in this EIBF series.
Campaigner Gina Martin offers an empowering toolkit for activism and change while Danish comedian Sofie Hagen discusses body image.
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson in conversation with Olympian Katherine Grainger, and Labour MP Rachel Reeves and broadcaster Mariella Frostrup all share their collections of inspirational women.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
